Rotary engine.



PATENTED JULY 5, 1904.

H. CHAPMAN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED OOT.17,1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

K0 MODEL.

\NVENTO'R M WM, 2%

ATTORNLYS W \TN E as E. :5 JDMW 3. m

PATENTED JULY 6, 1904.

H. CHAPMAN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.17, 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- N0 MODEL.

w R m m w. A i W NU ,WITN ElES No. 764,040. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904. H. CHAPMAN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 00117, 1902.

no MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

FIG. 5.

wvmtssis INVENTOR vlmnw ATTO RNEY-S .No. 764:;040. 'PATENTBD JULY 5, 1904. H. CHAPMAN.

ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED 00117, 1902. N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

JPATTOR Navs UNITED STATES Patented July 5, 1904.

HARRY CHAPMAN, OF SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 764,040, dated July 5, 1904. Application filed October 17, 1902. Serial No. 127,655. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY CHAPMAN, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of 34 Meersbrook road, in the city of Sheffield, in the county of York, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Fluid-Pressure and Explosive Engines, (for which I have filed an application for a patent in Great Britain, No. 6,795, bearing date March 20, 1902,) of which the following is a specification.

The objectof this invention is to obtain by the arrangement and combination of certain mechanism a rotary engine which can be worked by fluid-pressure-such as steam, compressed air, or explosive mixturesthis engine being so arranged and constructed that the fluid medium is confined and made to work expansively before being allowed to escape into the atmosphere, thereby securing efiiciency and economy.

I attain my object in the following manner.

The nature of my invention will be better understood on reference to the accompanying four sheets of drawings, in which- Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a side elevation of one of my improved rotary engines which by slight modifications in the valve-motion can be adapted for fluid-pressure wherein the medium is either steam, compressed air, or an explosive mixture, Fig. 2, Sheet 2, being a sectional plan of the same. Fig. 3, Sheet 3, is a transverse section taken through the first or high-pressure cylinder. Fig. 4, Sheet 4, is a modification in the form of the blades of the rotary disk, Fig. 5, Sheet 4, being a further modification of the blades of the r0- tary disk. Fig. 6 is an elevation, and Fig. 7 a plan, of a circular slide or shutter forming a part of the valve-motion. Figs. 8 and 9 are an elevation and plan of a modification thereof. Figs. 10 and 11 are an elevation and plan of a further modification of the same. Figs. 12 and 13 are a plan and section of a cut-off plate which forms another portion of the valvemotion.

The same letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My invention can be carried out in an engine having one or more cylinders, and as an engine with two cylinders can with very slight modifications be adapted for either steam or explosive mixtures I have given as an illustration in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying drawingsa two-cylinder engine which when used for steam would be on the principle of a compound receiver-engine, and as such I will now proceed to describe it and afterward show how the same can be adapted for the employment of explosive mixtures.

In the figures last referred to the smaller cylinder a may be called the higlrpressure cylinder, which is accurately bored and fitted with a drum 7), provided with helical blades or propellers 0, the number, depth, and pitch of which may be varied according to the size and class of engine required. This propellerdrum is fitted upon a shaft (Z, which has suitable bearings in the ends of the cylinder. The cylinder may be made in halves and secured together by bolts longitudinally, or it may be provided with end covers, stuffingboxes, and glands. On the side of this cylinder a I provide one or more valve-chests e, in which I fit a circular slide or shutter f, hereinafter called a slide, which is made to revolve by the blades of the propeller, which fit into slots 9, formed in its walls. The rotary motion of this slide, as may be seen on reference to the drawings, is at right-angles to the motion of the propellers and-their shaft. In what may be called the bottom of this rotary slide I form ports for the induction of steam. On the face of the last-named ports and concentric with them ,I provide a cut-off plate 2 which can be actuated either by hand or by a governor, so that the flow of steam through the induction-ports It may be regulated or cut ofi. In the opposite wall of the cylinder to the inductionports it I provide an exhaust-port j, and up to this point I have described a single-cylinder rotary engine which could ,be worked by steam or any other fluid-pressure which is non-explosive. I will therefore describe the action of this portion of the engine first, as it would be the same whether employed as a single steam-engine or as the high-pressure cylinder of a double or compound engine.

WVhen steam is admitted through one of the ports h, it enters the cylinder inside the walls of the rotary slide f, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, and acting upon the blade of the pro peller 0 causes it to revolve in the cylinder, the wall of the rotary slide f forming an abutment. At the same time as the blade moves through the slot in the walls of the said slide the slide is made to revolve as the periphery of the blade moves from one side of the cylinder to the other, and this movement of the rotary slide is utilized for opening and closing the induction-port 72. in conjunction with the cut-off plate 2', which. as previously stated, may be adjusted by hand or by the action of a governor.

When the blade of the propeller is formed of one complete helix, as shown, the rotary slide would have a number of slots 9 in its walls placed the same distance apart as the pitch of the blades, and by making the ends of the blades slightly overlap each other the leading edge of the blade would be entering one slot at the moment the trailing end was leaving the other slot, and so on continuously.

In cases where two or more blades of the same pitch are employed then the number of slots in the revolving slide and shutter would be increased proportionately.

When one complete helix or blade is employed, as shown in the drawings, for every complete revolution of the propeller the retary slide would be moved one notch and the ports 71. would be so placed in relation to the slots g that they would open and close for every corresponding revolution of the propeller, any degree of cut-off which might be required being regulated by the secondary valve or cut-off plate of, as already described. In an engine where the slide was provided with six slots, as shown in the drawings, Figs. 6 to 11, the engine would make six revolutions to one revolution of the slide, and so on, the induction-ports h being opened and closed at every revolution, and the exhaust port would only be closed or partially closed for a shortinterval at the commencement of every revolution, the period being regulated by its position. The steam would then be exhausted into the atmosphere or into a condenser in' the ordinary way; but in case of a compound or double-cylinder engine, as herein described, the steam would pass into a receiver k and thence to a second and larger cylinder (0, when the cycle last described would be repeated, the valves of course being adjusted in conformity therewith.

I will now describe the action of this engine when an explosive mixture is used for creating the fluid-pressure. In this case the mixture would be admitted into the first cylinder at and would follow the same cycle as described for steam until it was exhausted into the receiver, which would then be separated into two compartments, in being theprimary receiver, which would be separated from 73 by a valve Z. When the charge had been thus received, it would be fired at the proper moment by means of an ignitiontube or electric sparking plug mor by any of the well-known methods employed in explosive-engines,when the cycle of the engine takes place precisely as previously described.

In cases where only one cylinder is employed for an explosive-engine the construction would be similar to that previously described for a single engine; but two or more rotary slides and valves would be employed, placed round the periphery of the cylinder, with one blade-say, for example,with two slides and one blade. The action would then be as follows: The explosive mixture would be drawn into the compartment of the cylinder formed between the first and second slide, and thence by the movement of the propeller it would be forced through a port by the following portion of the blade into a receiver connected with the inlet or induction port of the second compartment of the cylinder, where it would be ignited and where it would exert the force obtained from the explosion, and thence by an exhaust-orifice suitably formed in the side or ends of the cylinder into the atmosphere.

As a modification of the before-described propellers I sometimes employ a segment only of a helix formed between two parallel flanges, portions of the said flanges being cut away to allow of the movements of the rotating slide. In such cases, however, the exhaust-port would preferably be formed in-the sides of the cylinder instead of the ends.

As a further modification, by employing a propeller, as illustrated in Fig. 5, in combination with a slide, as illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, two revolutions may be obtained by one induction.

I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to strictly a helical form of blade on the propeller.

In order to keep the engine cool when working as an explosion-engine, the cylinder may be water-jacketed and the drum, blades, and. shaft may either be made hollow or provided withchannels through which water is circulated, the water passing through theshat't to the revolving parts.

Strips and rings of metal may be arranged in grooves in the slide or shutter, the channels or openings in the cylinder, and on the edges and ends of the blades to prevent the escape of steam or other medium.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a rotary fluid-pressure engine, the combination of mechanism, comprising a revolving propeller with one or more blades in a cylinder provided with one or more circular slides or shutters, such slide or shutter being provided with slots for the passage of the propeller blade or blades and also withports and a cut-off plate in the manner and for the purposes substantially as herein described and illustrated.

2. The combination of a rotary engine,having tWo cylinders,revolving propellers in said cylinders, a shaft for said propellers, means for the passage of the fluid from one cylinder to the other, inlet-ports to each cylinder, and shutters controlling the same, said shutters forming an abutment for the fluid in the I cylinders and being controlled by the propellers substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of tWo Witnesses.

HARRY CHAPMAN. Witnesses:

R. HEBER RADFoRD, W. H. BAIRSTO. 

